Orange County Register

World of Warcraft added two million subscribers in 2007, helping the game reach the milestone of 10 million subscribers and also contributing to an 8 percent year-over-year revenue growth for parent company Vivendi.

This is interesting for two reasons. First, World of Warcraft was released Nov. 23, 2004, meaning 20 percent of its users joined in the game’s third year (during which the Burning Crusade expansion pack, at left, was released). Second, Blizzard was the only driving force in the revenue increase for Vivendi’s gaming division in 2007.

According to 2007 revenue information released by Vivendi this afternoon, the company’s 2007 revenues totaled $32 billion, with net income of $4.1 billion.

The Vivendi Games division that includes World of Warcraft developer Blizzard Entertainment reported $1.5 billion in revenues last year and Blizzard’s share of that gaming revenue was $1.2 billion.

The Vivendi earnings report says Blizzard’s revenues grew 58 percent year over year, while the revenues for the rest of the Vivendi gaming division (Sierra Entertainment, Sierra Online and Vivendi Games Mobile) decreased by 29 percent.

In early December gaming giant Activision announced a merger with Blizzard’s parent company Vivendi to be called Activision-Blizzard. According to Activision, its 2007 earnings will be announced Feb. 7.

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